Black garlic - superfood! - Macphie

Superfoods have been in vogue for some time but none are more interesting and unusual as black garlic. It’s been gaining popularity amongst foodies for some time now as it has an abundance of health benefits, an unusual flavour and 18-month shelf life.

Despite its appearance, black garlic is not a different member of the white garlic family. Originally discovered in Korea, it was introduced to the health and food markets around five years ago. It’s created when white garlic is exposed to carefully controlled heat and humidity for 40 days.

This ages the bulb and gives the cloves their black colour and jelly-like consistency. The flavour of the black garlic is as unusual as its appearance. It has a sweet taste with a hint of balsamic, fruit, toffee, dark chocolate and caramelised onion and, as an added bonus, it doesn’t give your breath the famous pong associated with normal garlic!

On top of this, the reported health benefits are impressive. The month-long process to create the black bulbs makes a sort of super-garlic. It’s thought to help lower cholesterol and decrease the risk of cancer. It offers a boosted protection against infections and has twice the antioxidants compared to its white counterpart. This makes it a useful food for helping fight chronic disease such as heart disease, Alzheimer’s and arthritis. The only thing it won’t do is ward off the vampires!